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Friday, January 29, 2010

CITY OF MONTREAL DESIGN CONTESTS

January 30, 2010

In 1981, I pointed out that the prize-winning logo for the City of Montreal for which thousands of dollars were paid out to the "winner" of the design contest, was a rip-off from THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER. (See my emails below). No one paid any attention.

We must look closely at "prize winning" designs this time.

Phyllis Carter

The Suburban, Jan . 27 2010 issue, page 2.

(My shorthand)

Funds officially set aside by borough council over 5.3 million $.- 7.8 million expected to be covered by city centre with other levels of govmnt set to chip in balance on the roughly $21 million project. Council has requested support from Heritage Canada; "the centre will be conceived somewhat unconventionally." A nation-wide competition for the design. Architect Philippe Drolet is being paid nearly $45,000 by the borough as a consultant to manage the contest. The winner to be announced toward the fall with construction to begin in 2011.

CITY OF MONTREAL LOGO RIP-OFF

October 29, 2008

Dear Editor,

The Gazette October 29 reports "The Montreal Metropolitan Community has come up with a new logo to "brand" the region.... So far, the council has spent $487,000 on the logo, with another $200,000 budgeted to come up with a plan to promote it."

The older I get, the more I feel despair for the human race. Do we never learn? Montreal's current logo cost the taxpayers thousands of dollars won by the so-called artist who won a competition for the best design, even though that exact symbol had been used for many years as a decorative trim for columns in The National Enquirer and was still in use in The National Enquirer at the time Montreal bought it. ( I was selling newspapers at the time and saw that emblem in The National Enquirer all the time.)

I reported this fact to the media and the authorities at the time the logo was first shown to the public.(1981). All they had to do was open a copy of The National Enquirer and see for themselves. But I was ignored. Not surprising: After all, the money had been spent with a big splash of publicity, and I am sure the City did not want the embarrassing truth exposed.

All these years later, it appears that the City of Montreal once again has been wasting huge amounts of taxpayers' money. At a time when there are people losing their homes and their jobs, do we need to squander money on more silly symbols? More pomp, less bread.

December 1st, 2009

It's a symbol that's familiar to all Montrealers. It appears on street signs, official correspondence, libraries, city vehicles, and city councillors' lapels, to name just a few. But where did it come from and what is its history?

Like many iconic symbols of modern Montreal, the city owes the famous rosette to Jean Drapeau. It was adopted by Montreal City Council in 1981, and like many of Drapeau's projects it was surrounded by controversy.